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Posted: 10:31 PM- Some say Draper residents weighed in on more than just a City Council race this Election Day.

They rejected all three candidates backed by a group that wants to move a proposed TRAX-extension route through the southeast Salt Lake Valley community.

Resident Larry Jensen wants the proposed TRAX line - it's slated for residential areas along the city's east bench - to stay where the Utah Transit Authority and the current City Council want it. He said on Thursday that Tuesday's election shows most Draper residents agree.

"Citizens for Responsible Transportation transformed this election into a referendum on TRAX in Draper. TRAX won," Jensen said.

CRT wants the coming TRAX alignment moved out of low-density neighborhoods and closer to business-heavy State Street - or even farther west. Their efforts have led to the Utah Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on whether residents can still decide the issue through the ballot box in a future election.

Incumbent Bill Colbert, who won another term despite CRT's efforts, thanked the group for not endorsing him.

"CRT didn't have the impact they wanted - but they had an impact," Colbert said. "They tried to hijack the race, and it backfired on their butts."

Candidate Scott Tanner, one of the three defeated CRT-backed candidates, agrees the endorsement played a part in his defeat.

"I wish that we weren't lumped together that easily," he lamented. "The candidates didn't want to make TRAX the issue."

Tanner, like the other CRT-endorsed candidates, Paul Tonks and Bart Barker, simply wanted UTA to complete its study and pick the best option.

But Summer Pugh, one of CRT's leaders, disagrees that said the election was driven by the TRAX factor.

"This was an election about the 70 percent tax increase and the lack of ballparks for our kids," Pugh said. "TRAX . . . was not heavily debated."

She added that her group simply backed a slate of candidates so its supporters would know who was open to their cause. Pugh added that CRT got its candidates through the primary election, even in the midst of a long list of 13 candidates.

That, she said, was a sign that people want to move TRAX away from east-side neighborhoods.

Pugh said Colbert benefited - and Barker suffered - from last-moment campaigning by a rogue group called "Concerned Parents and Taxpayers."

But Jensen said primary winner Barker - a political veteran and three-term Salt Lake County commissioner - ruined himself with initial comments supporting a west-side TRAX route.

Barker was unavailable for comment Thursday. One resident who voted for Barker, Donna Evans, said it was unfortunate Barker was pulled into the TRAX debate.

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